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Friday, 6 May 2016

If Mandolin Orange has been on the periphery of my horizon
for a while, they parked at the front door last night with a debut show in
Birmingham. This duo from North Carolina have been hoovering up praise for
quite a while and reside in good company since their last albums were released
on the Yep Roc record label. The latest UK tour sees the pairing of Emily
Frantz and Andrew Marlin pay a visit to the usual Americana and roots haunts
with the addition this year of a visit to Birmingh-u-m (no errors in pronunciation
from the band). It appears that this was the same team that put the Bros.
Landreth show on in March and similarly this event was also impeded by a venue
change. While it is laudable that such fine artists are being brought to the
area, surely word needs to get out more that great music is in town.

Those last few words are indisputable on the evidence of
Mandolin Orange’s performance in the upstairs room of Moseley’s Dark Horse pub.
Pouring their authentic vocals and harmonies into a single vintage mic, multi-instrumentalists
Emily and Andrew delivered a stunning set of old time, bluegrass and country
music, as rustic and rural as you can get. Yes, the mandolin was prevalent and
Andrew’s spectacular playing extracted some searing sounds with the surprise of
no broken strings. While Andrew was picking his magnificent miniature instrument,
Emily supplied the rhythm from her acoustic guitar. Frequently roles were reversed
when Emily reverted to fiddle and Andrew replaced the mandolin with guitar.
Whatever the format, the results were smooth and rousing to the ear. Vocally,
Andrew generally took control with the harmonies sprinkling parts of most
songs. The live versions of their recorded songs adopted a living breathing
role and accomplished the feat of enticing a string of album purchases.

The evening began with local singer-songwriter Guy Jones
getting a rather early slot, which from experience always seems to get more
audience focus in a seated venue. Guy is a regular on the circuit and is steadily
growing his presence with a bunch of strong confidently delivered songs. If Guy
was the familiar support, the next artist up wasn’t and he transpired to be the
travelling companion of Mandolin Orange. A little post-gig research reveals
Josh Oliver as an active performer in the East Tennessee/North Carolina area
with a recent solo record put out featuring Andrew and Emily in both playing
and production capacities. Within seconds of Josh playing the first song of his
short set, you felt you were in the presence of an artist straight from the
backwoods of the Deep South. While the lyrics were a touch tough to follow from
such a strong accent, the sound had 100% guaranteed quality stamped all over
it. Not too many of the songs can be recalled, but he did pay tribute to an
artist he has played with who I’d heard of – Martha Scanlon and covered the
Carter Family piece ‘When the World’s on
Fire’. Now that is one act he would have surely loved to have played with
in another era.

While on the topic of covers, Mandolin Orange slipped in a
lengthy version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Boots of
Spanish Leather’ mid-way through their set admitting that it would be difficult
to follow such an impeccable song. However the guys need not have worried as
their own songs sounded superb and are built to stand the test of time. Emily
informed the audience that the latest album was celebrating its one year
release birthday on May 5th and several tracks from SUCH JUBILEE
featured during the show. The pick of these were ‘That Wrecking Ball’ and a cowboy song going by the title ‘Rounder’. Since their formation in 2009,
Mandolin Orange haven’t held back on the releases and this evening a couple
more new songs were previewed suggesting another one is just around the corner.
If one song had to be elevated to pole position on the set list, ‘Waltz About Whiskey’ from the 2013 album
THIS SIDE OF JORDAN made a compelling case.

An evening of personal discovery and enlightenment ended
with a jam exhibition on stage as Josh joined Emily and Andrew for the final
three numbers. This segment of song sharing capped a fabulous show with the
confirmation that another top of their game American roots act is making a
growing impression this side of the pond. The final thoughts of comparison have
already been referenced in Mandolin Orange’s press, but the resemblance in
style to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings isn’t going away. However to throw
another name into the mix, the appeal and effect from a personal perspective
was that from seeing The Stray Birds live for the first time last year. That
trio were totally awesome, and the duo Mandolin Orange is in the same league.

Three Chords and the Truth UK

Take the cliche as your starting point before branching out where the music matters. A blog using the medium of 100% original writing to convey some personal thoughts on live and recorded music through the prism of the time honoured review.

About Me

This blog had its inception in January 2012 and is designed to share personal thoughts on music that appeals. These are through highly filtered album and gig reviews which distinctly reflect personal preference. All reviewed recordings are from submitted material thus only reflect a portion of current taste, albeit generally representative. Live reviews tend to be the bulk of those attended. These do include some guest list spots for performers and events that appeal. Time constraints and ethos will always dictate a positive tone that is well served by the offline filter system. Fundamentally these are the sole thoughts of one individual and in essence a 'personal vanity project'.